


Of Course I'm Going with You, Dummy

by Gizmodo



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: "you're such an idiot", Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Continuation, F/F, Fluff, Kidnapping, Marriage Proposal, Minor Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Miscommunication, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Canon, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24247720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gizmodo/pseuds/Gizmodo
Summary: A few years have passed since the invasion of Horde Prime and the fight for the Heart of Etheria. The Best Friend Squad has successfully reintroduced magic to the universe and settled into domestic lives back home in Bright Moon. Bow and Glimmer, now married, rule Etheria as King and Queen, with Catra and Adora (who's given up her role as She-Ra) working as their top military and royal advisors. Life is good... and Catra wants to take the next step with Adora and ask her to marry her, but between Catra's own inability to make her proposal perfect and whispers of a new, unknown enemy circulating throughout the universe, will things work out as everyone hopes? Or will their new life all fall apart?
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh... I just binged basically all 5 seasons of She-Ra in about a day and a half and this idea started banging around incessantly in my head, so naturally... hours after finishing the series, I had to start writing this. I've always enjoyed this pairing but never felt the desire to write for them until Noelle said, "YEET! GAY RIGHTS!" and made them canon (in one of the most satisfying story arcs ever *chef's kiss*). So, here we are. 
> 
> I originally started this with the intention of it being a one-shot, and it most definitely is not going to be a one-shot. Oops. Anyway, I'm going to work on this as quickly as I can while my motivation lasts, but if you've ever read any of my work, y'all know that I struggle with finishing stories (sorry!!!!!!), so that's your fair warning. But enough about that - onto the show! Hope you enjoy.

All is quiet and calm in the castle of Bright Moon.

A fire crackles in front of a long, cozy couch as the clock ticks just past ten in the evening.

Glimmer sighs contentedly and snuggles in closer to Bow.

“Have you guys seen Catra?!”

“WHA!” Bow screeches as he and Glimmer almost come out of their skins at Adora’s sudden (and slightly disheveled) appearance behind the couch they’d been on for the past few hours.

They had been hoping to have a quiet night in - just the two of them. 

Apparently, they weren’t going to get their wish.

Adora grips the back of the couch and leans over them, eyes red and puffy. Her breathing is noticeably labored and her hair is wild and loose, hanging around at odd angles from the diadem she’d taken to wearing in lieu of her signature ponytail.

Hearts racing, Bow and Glimmer carefully disentangle themselves and stand up from the couch, taking in Adora’s appearance and sharing a worried glance.

“Well? Have you?!” Adora’s voice is tight as her fingers squeeze the back of the couch, fingers and knuckles blanching under the strain, and her eyes dart back and forth between the two of them.

Glimmer’s brow furrows as she rounds the couch and rests her hand on Adora’s shoulder, turning her to face her and causing her to loosen her grip on the furniture, “Not since yesterday morning… Why? What’s happened?”

Tears well up in Adora’s eyes and she grips Glimmer’s forearm in a vice, “I… I don’t know! We were talking about the reports that Entrapta gave us about the unknown energy surge in Despondos and the, the disappearances and strange skirmishes that have been going on around the universe lately, and we - we had a fight about me going back to being She-Ra to help them, then about why she’s been so distant and, and… then she disappeared and never came to bed. So, I thought, you know, that I’d give her some space and we could try and talk it out today, but then I didn’t see her this morning, and then I couldn’t find her this afternoon, and now it’s been all day and I can’t find her anywhere! Nobody has seen her since yesterday and, and…” Adora’s bottom lip quivers and the tears start to slowly slide down her cheeks, “and I just don’t understand what happened? We’ve argued before but this was… this was different.”

Bow’s eyebrows raise at the mention of Adora considering becoming She-Ra again. It’d been a couple of years since they had gone on their two-year journey to finish reintroducing magic to the universe and she hadn’t taken on the mantle since. To hear her talking about it again now was… unexpected. He hadn’t even known that she was considering getting involved in anything that Entrapta had been reporting. What they’d been hearing had absolutely been concerning, but… that also wasn’t the actual issue at hand.

Glimmer shoots Bow another concerned look and he shoots her a guilty half smile. Rolling her eyes at her husband - obviously needing to take the lead on this -, Glimmer dips her head down to catch Adora’s gaze, “Adora, honey… I’m sure it’s fine. You guys always figure it out. She probably just got distracted by something and lost track of time. You know how she gets when she’s brooding.”

Adora looks away sharply and steps out of Glimmer’s reach towards the tall windows looking out over the edges of the Whispering Woods, crossing her arms tightly over her stomach, tears dripping off her chin, “You don’t understand. This wasn’t a - it wasn’t a small argument. This felt… different and weird and… and _huge_ . It started with She-Ra and it felt like a normal disagreement, but then when it moved to why she’s been distant, everything changed. She got antsy and cagey and said she wasn’t ready, yet; that things weren’t perfect and that she couldn’t do it if they weren’t perfect. I asked what she meant, but she said she couldn’t explain right now and that she needed to figure it out alone. She shut down on me completely, and then she was just… _gone_. With no - no explanation.” She squeezes her eyes shut and pinches her lips together, shoulders shaking with effort as she tries to restrain a sob.

Bow circles around to stand next to Glimmer, sliding a protective arm around her waist as he tentatively reaches out to take Adora’s hand, “I know things have been, well… kinda weird between you two the last couple of weeks, but you _know_ Catra loves you more than anything in the universe and she knows you love her the same. You guys have had big fights before and come out stronger for it.” Bow squeezes her hand in reassurance, “Like Glimmer said - she’s probably brooding somewhere. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Shoulders bowing over and one arm still wrapped tightly around her waist, Adora looks up at them, eyes swimming with tears and voice breaking, “And what if it isn’t? She’s been avoiding me _every_ day for weeks, Bow. She’s been acting jumpy and strange whenever I’m around and when we go to bed… she’s so _tense_ when I touch her. I just...” Adora lets out a strangled sob, “In the entire five years we’ve been together, I’ve never felt like this before. I don’t know what I did wrong… I don’t know how to make things right. I feel like I’m losing her and I don’t know, I don’t… I don’t know--”

Quickly approaching her together, Bow and Glimmer wrap their arms tightly around a shaking Adora as the dam finally breaks and she starts to sob in earnest. Adora’s knees give out and they all sink to the floor, Glimmer and Bow tucking Adora into themselves as closely as they can as she cries.

Glimmer rests her head against Adora’s and whispers softly, “We’ll figure it out together, Adora.”

Touching his forehead to the other side of Adora’s head and running his hand soothing up and down his wife’s back, he gives them both a tight squeeze and just as gently whispers, “Yeah - you have us. Always.”

***

Breaking through some underbrush, Catra stalks forward, deeper into the Whispering Woods, muttering under her breath, “Stupid. Stupid, stupid, _stupid_.”

Not paying attention to where she’s going in the dark - too lost in replaying hers and Adora’s argument over and over in her mind - Catra walks headfirst straight into a low-hanging tree branch. 

“OW! Ughhh!!” With a roar and claws extending, she lashes out furiously at her surroundings, tearing everything around her to shreds. Branches crack and snap. Leaves and vines disintegrate. Wildlife bolts from the area in a panic as Catra tears through in a rage.

Eventually the frustration and anger bleeds from her body, leaving her in the middle of her own destruction, chest heaving and feeling no better for it. With a sigh she retracts her claws and looks around at what she’s done.

The damage is… severe. 

An entire swathe of forest, destroyed in minutes because she couldn’t keep her temper in check. Again.

She’s been working on expressing her emotions constructively - and getting better at it - for years, but they still get the better of her sometimes. Anger especially. And her anger got the better of her just now… and her anger coupled with fear got the better of her an hour ago with Adora.

_Adora_.

Catra groans and rubs her forehead, plopping unceremoniously on to the forest floor. God, she really messed up with Adora. Things got heated so _quickly_ between them. She doesn’t even know how it got so bad, so fast. 

Tucking her legs up and dropping her forehead onto her knees, she sighs as she curls her tail around her ankles. It’s a lie and she knows it. Things got that bad, that fast because she became nervous and defensive, lashing out like she used to as a child. Instead of being calm, Catra panicked, and she tried to push Adora away to keep her from asking more questions about what was going on.

And the worst part? There was no real reason for it except Catra was scared that she’d ruin it before everything was absolutely perfect. She knew she had been acting weird around Adora and that Adora noticed it. She didn’t _mean_ to… but she’s just been so stressed lately trying to find the perfect token. To come up with the perfect plan.

Rustling in the bushes catches Catra’s attention, her ears twitching towards the disturbance. Raising her head some, she peers into the semi-darkness, eyes dilating and body tensing in anticipation.

A slight shimmering happens before her eyes, a figure quickly taking shape in the dark. Her body relaxes. Smiling slightly, a head bumps into hers and she nuzzles it some, “Hi Melog.”

Melog murps and chirps at her and, uncurling some, she wraps her arms around Melog’s lithe body in a quick embrace, “Yeah… I know I messed up big time.”

Huffing, Melog pushes harder into Catra and chirps and growls against her chest. Catra’s ears flatten back and she gives Melog a hard stare, “I _just_ said I know I messed up. You don’t have to be so mean about it.”

Melog yowls and with a quick headbutt to the sternum, pushes Catra flat onto her back. An indignant, “Hey!” escapes Catra before she simply accepts her fate and relaxes into the spongy undergrowth, “Yeah, I guess I probably did deserve that.”

Curling up beside her, Melog rests her head on Catra’s stomach and stares at her unblinkingly. Catra ignores the stare and instead gazes up at the stars peeking through the forest canopy. Undeniably a beautiful sight, but one that she never thought she’d see and doesn’t know if she’ll ever get used to. Especially because it almost cost her whole world; it almost cost her Adora.

Sighing, Catra shifts her gaze back down to Melog, petting along the creature’s side, “I just want everything to be perfect for her. I mean, I only get one chance to ask her to marry me, you know? Everything has to be perfect and it just… isn’t, yet, and it scares me. What if I can’t make it perfect? What if--” Catra squeezes her eyes shut and swallows hard, “what if she says no?”

Melog yowls again and purrs against her, staring intently at Catra. Catra blinks her eyes open, a single tear dripping down her temple. “I just… I don’t know. I’m so worried about this and I’m not entirely sure why. It makes me doubt if it’s really the right time. But you’re right. I won’t know until I ask and she deserves an explanation.” Stretching some and subtly wiping the tear from her face, Catra sits up - Melog’s face rising to meet hers. Catra bumps her forehead against Melog’s again before standing all the way up, “Thanks for listening and checking on me. Go ahead and head on home. Keep Adora company - I’ll be there soon. I think I’m going to pick some flowers for her before I head back.”

With a meaningful stare and a swish of her tail, Melog fades away and Catra is left alone once more.

Taking a fortifying breath, Catra sets out further into the forest, intent on gathering the best bouquet she can before heading back to Bright Moon. Before heading back to Adora.

As she walks, she begins to mull over more ideas for what she wants to use as her token of intent when she asks Adora to marry her…

Completely oblivious to the unnatural, creeping shadows that twist and follow behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Let's get this open line of communication going!


	2. Chapter 2

Catra pads softly across the forest floor, eyes sharp in the darkness as she forages for flowers. She’s amassed a fair number so far, but she still wants to find the perfect one to complete the bouquet before heading back to Bright Moon.

She knows exactly what she’s looking for as her eyes track along and between the trees, hoping to catch the shimmering splendor of Adora’s favorite flower. 

Extremely rare and found exclusively around First One’s temples, she knows that if she can find it, it’ll make her apology bouquet perfect. (The actual apology, however, will take a _lot_ more to make perfect.)

Sighing, she forges forward, occasionally climbing a tree here and there to get a better vantage, but with little luck.

She knows she’s in the right area because she can see The Beacon in a break in the trees some ways to her left, but for the life of her, the damn flower keeps eluding her.

Dropping to the ground with a huff of frustration, Catra starts to head towards The Beacon before the soft snap of a twig catches her attention.

Freezing in place, her ears twitch around, attempting to pinpoint any other disturbances. Her hand tightens around the bouquet as the silence stretches uncomfortably around her.

The longer it lasts, the more on edge she becomes. A shiver runs up her spine and her fur bristles as a feeling of wrongness creeps over her.

One moment, then two pass. All the while, the eerie silence continues to grow. 

Finally, a rustle behind her breaks it.

She pins her ears back and twists into a crouch. Dropping the flowers, she extends her claws in preparation for a fight, eyes tracking the silhouette she can barely make out in the shadows.

Eyeing the movement, she calls out, “Who’s there?” 

The silhouette doesn’t answer.

Instead, it moves closer to her, another familiar shape starting to take form.

Catra relaxes some and curses herself for being so jumpy tonight. First with Melog and now with… 

“Adora? Is that you?”

Adora laughs and steps out into the moonlight, eyes crinkled and smile wide, “Of course it is, silly. Who else do you think would come looking for you in the middle of the night? Now, come on. Let’s go home.”

Smile softening, Adora reaches her hand out towards Catra.

Catra huffs a laugh and reaches out to twine their fingers together, relieved to see Adora out here despite what happened earlier. Adora’s eyes crinkle as their fingers hook together and Catra returns the smile, breathing deeply and freely for the first time in hours.

A strange scent tickles her nose on the breath in and she hesitates for a second. 

Sniffing again, several familiar scents she associates with Adora filter through, but that same strange scent underlies them all. Almost sickly sweet in its essence, it undercuts the rest of them, making Catra’s fur bristle in warning.

“... Adora?”

Adora’s brow furrows and she gives her a perplexed smile, “Yes, love?”

“What’s that smell?”

Adora cocks her head slightly, “What smell?”

“Can’t you-” another light tickle of the scent reaches Catra’s nose and it makes her dizzy.

Shaking her head to clear it some, Catra takes stock of their surroundings - eyes darting every which way -, on edge about Adora’s blaise attitude and the weird, intrusive smell. 

Adora just stares at her with loving confusion, but the smell… it was becoming cloyingly overwhelming - cutting through every other one of her senses and making her head feel fuzzy. 

Catra’s tail bristles and she tries to pull her fingers back but Adora’s grip is strong and unyielding (a trait she normally enjoys immensely but is now making something inside her panic). With a rough tug, she’s pulled into Adora’s personal space. 

The other woman’s face smoothes out and something dark glints in her blue-grey eyes as her other hand comes up to pull a bit too hard on the small grey tuft growing back under her ear. 

She winces and tugs her head out of Adora’s grip. She hadn’t trimmed them in a few months as an experiment to see if she still responded to them being touched like she had when that _woman_ used to pull on them, but... Adora - she would never pull on them without permission. She would never--

Before Catra can process or say anymore, soft lips press against hers. Instinctually, her eyes flutter closed and everything inside of her unwinds as she melts into the kiss with a small moan, her free hand coming up to loosely grip at Adora’s hip.

Adora’s tongue touches her top lip and then slips past, flicking against one of Catra’s fangs. A small whimper escapes her and she sinks further into the kiss, her head stuffy and buzzing. It felt so good to be pressed against Adora again that any thoughts of strange smells and even stranger behaviors completely evaporates from Catra’s mind. It was just her and Adora.

Another pass of Adora’s tongue over her fangs and Catra’s knees threaten to buckle, but as she shifts closer, an odd, bitter taste coats her mouth. Pulling back with a gasp, she rolls and scrapes her tongue against her teeth in disgust, “What the?”

Something sharp jabs into the side of her neck and her eyes snap open to lock onto Adora’s face, but instead of the warm, loving features of her girlfriend, she’s confronted with a cruel perversion - shifting, twisting, deforming in front of her very eyes.

The panic that had subsided earlier comes back in full force as she clumsily grabs the side of her neck and staggers back, her legs turning to jelly. They don’t take her very far before her knees give out completely and she drops to them in the soft grass, her bouquet of flowers trampled and littered around her. She watches in slow motion as Adora - no, _not_ \- _Adora_ \- steps towards her, a small needle in hand and shimmering at the edges as their body stretches and darkens to black. 

Catra’s hand drops from her neck of its own accord, her body beginning to go completely numb and unresponsive, shutting down from her extremities and working its way in as not-Adora steps closer and closer.

Pure terror has well and truly set in as her heart eerily slows down from its hummingbird pace and her vision starts to blur at the edges.

Blinking lethargically, Catra manages to maintain eye contact with _not-Adora_ as they begin to solidify into a new shape, but the world is spinning out of control too fast for her. It’s too fast. Too fast.

Words get lost in her choked throat, but finally, she manages a quiet, plaintive, “Double Trouble…?” before pitching forward into the grass. She lands with a pained “oomph”, her head tilted to the side and her arms pinned awkwardly between her body and the ground.

Heeled feet appear in her rapidly blackening vision and a voice she doesn’t recognize sneers above her, “Oh honey, you’re in so much more trouble than that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to attempt to keep chapters shorter so I can get them out faster, but... we'll see how that goes. Anywho, comments, questions, etc... feel free to throw 'em at me!


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